The Pack has decided to work towards having each Cub earn the World Conservation Badge. Earning this badge is achieved by learning about and doing things that help us appreciate the environment.

Each Cub in Pack 731 can work towards this badge by completing a series of achievements and electives and participating in a Pack Activity that is focused on environmental conservation. The Pack activity will include each den's participation in a trailblazing project at Harold Parker State Forest. This activity will most likely take place this spring.

This web site is a work in progress and is designed to provide the following:

• Badge Requirements - The badge requirements for each cub scout rank (Bear, Webelos, Wolves) to obtain the World Conservation Badge. Included with the requirements are resources that Den Leaders and Parents can use to help the cubs meet the requirements.
  • Webelos
    
  • Bear
    
  • Wolf
    

• The Ipswich River Watershed Stenciling Project - example of an environmental project

Webelos Requirements for the World Conservation Badge

• Forester Activity Badge - Do Five of These :
  • Make a map of the United States. Show the types of forests growing in different parts of the country. Name some kinds of trees that grow in these forests. For each type of forest, give one or more examples of uses for the wood of its trees.

  • Draw a picture to show the plant and tree layers of a forest in your area. Label the area that does and draw a picture of that forest.

  • Identify six forest trees common to the area where you live. Tell how both wildlife and humans use them. (If you don't live in a region that has forests, read about one type of forest and name six of its trees and their uses.)

  • Identify six forest plants (other than trees) that are useful to wildlife. Tell which animals use them and for what purposes.

  • Draw a picture showing:
    • How water and minerals in the soil help a tree grow

    • How the tree uses sunlight to help it grow

  • Make a poster showing how a tree's growth rings tell its life history.

  • Make a chart showing how water and minerals in the soil help a tree grow.

  • Collect pieces of three kinds of wood used for building houses. Good examples include
    • Pine - framing houses
    • Oak - furniture
    • Ash - baseball bats

  • Plant 20 forest tree seedlings. Tell how you planted them and what you did to take care of them after planting.

  • Describe the harm wildfires can cause . Tell how you can prevent wildfire.

  • Draw your own urban forestry plan for adding trees to a street, yard, or park near your home. Show what types of trees you would like to see planted.

• Outdoorsman Activity Badge - Do Five of These: :
  • Show your ability to tie the following knots:
    • Square knot,
    • Bowline,
    • Clove hitch,
    • Two half hitches,
    • Taut-line hitch

  • Pitch a tent using two half hitches and a tautline hitch.

  • With your adult partner, take part in a Webelos overnighter or camp overnight with a Boy Scout troop.

  • Help with a two-night campout away from home with your family. Or go on two one-night campouts with your family.

  • With your family or Webelos den, plan and take part in an evening outdoor activity that includes a campfire.

  • Help cook your own lunch or supper outdoors with a parent or another adult. Clean up afterward.

  • Know and practice the rules of outdoor fire safety.

  • Visit a nearby Boy Scout camp with your den.

   

• Naturalist Activity Badge - Do Four of These:
  • Keep an "insect zoo" that you have collected. You might have crickets, ants, or grasshoppers. Study them for a while then release them.

  • Set up an aquarium or terrarium. Keep it for at least a month.

  • Visit a museum of natural history, nature center, or zoo with your family, den, or pack. Tell what you saw.

  • Watch for birds in your yard, neighborhood, or town for one week. Identify the birds you see and write down where and when you saw them.

  • Learn about the bird flyways closest to your home. Find out which birds use these flyways.

  • Learn to identify poisonous plants and venomous reptiles found in your area.

  • Watch six wild animals (snakes, turtles, fish, birds, or mammals) in the wild. Describe the kind of place (forest, field, marsh, yard, or park) where you saw them. Tell what they were doing.

  • Give examples of:
    • A producer, a consumer, and a decomposer in the food chain of an ecosystem

    • One way humans have changed the balance of nature

    • How you can help protect the balance of nature

Each wolf must complete the following requirements as well as participate in the trailblazing pack event planned for the spring at Harold Parker State Forest. The Pack hopes to work with Park Rangers to install trail markers on selected trails at the park.

1. Complete the following Achievement

   Achievement 5: "Sharing your world with wild-life" - Do 4 of the following:

• Choose a bird or animal that you like and find out how it lives. Make a poster showing what you have learned.

• Build or make a bird feeder or bird house.

• Explain what a wildlife conservation officer does.

• Visit one of the following: Zoo , Nature center, Wildlife refuge, Game preserve.

• Name one animal that has become extinct in the last 100 years. Tell why animals become extinct. Name one animal that is on the Endangered Species List.

 

2. Complete 2 of the following electives
   • Elective 2: Weather
     • Learn how to read a thermometer. Put a thermometer outdoors and read it at the same time every day for 2 weeks. Keep a record of the weather for each day's temperature and a description of the weather each day (fair skies, rain, fog, snow, etc.).

     • Build a weather vane, record wind direction for 2 weeks at the same hour. Keep a record of the weather for each day.

     • Make a rain gauge.

     • Find out what a barometer is and how it works. Tell your den about it. Tell what relative humidity means.

     • Learn to identify three different kinds of clouds. Estimate their height.

     • Watch the weather forecast on TV every day for 2 weeks. Describe three different symbols used on weather maps. Keep a record of how many times the weather forecast is correct.

   • Elective 12:Nature crafts
     • Make shadow prints or blueprints of three kinds of leaves.

     • Make a display of eight different animal tracks with an eraser print.

     • Collect, press, and label ten kinds of leaves.

     • Build a water scope, and identify five types of water life.

     • Collect eight kinds of plant seeds and label.

     • Collect, mount, and label 10 kinds of rocks or minerals.

     • Collect, mount, and label five kinds of shells.

     • Build and use a bird caller.

   • Elective 15: Water and soil conservation
     • Dig a hole or find an excavation project and describe the different layers of soil you see and feel. (Do not enter an excavation area alone or without permission.)

     • Explore 3 different kinds of earth by conducting a soil experiment.

     • Visit a burned-out forest or prairie area, or a slide area, with your den or your family. Talk to a soil and water conservation officer, or a Forest Ranger about how the area will be planted and cared for, to grow again the way it was before the fire or slide.

     • What is erosion? Find out the kinds of grass, trees, or ground cover you need to plant to help limit erosion.

     • As a den, visit a lake, stream, river, or ocean (whichever is nearest where you live). Plan a den project to help clean up this important source of water. Name four kinds of water pollution.

Wolf Requirements for the World Conservation Badge

Each wolf must complete the following requirements as well as participate in the trailblazing pack event planned for the spring at Harold Parker State Forest. The Pack hopes to work with Park Rangers to install trail markers on selected trails at the park.

1. Complete the following Achievement

   Achievement 7: YOUR LIVING WORLD - Do the following:

• Land, air, and water can get dirty. On a sheet of paper list the ways this can happen.

• It takes a lot of energy to make glass, cans, and paper products. You can help save energy by collecting these things for use again. Write the name of the recycling center closest to you. Find out what items you can save and send to this center.

• With a grown-up, pick up litter in your neighborhood. Wear gloves to protect your hands from glass and other sharp objects.

• With a grown-up, find three stories that tell how people are protecting our world. Read and discuss them together.

• Besides recycling, there are other ways to conserve energy. List three ways you can save energy, and do them.

Use the following work packet to complete all activities required for Wolf Achievement 7

2. Complete 2 of the following electives
   • Elective 13: BIRDS

     Here's a good Den game to help get things started on learning about birds.

     • Make a list of all the birds you saw in a week and tell where you saw them (field, forest, marsh, yard, or park). Use the following work packet.

     • Put out nesting material (short pieces of yarn and string) for birds and tell which birds might use it.

     • Read a book about birds.

     • Point out 10 different kinds of birds (5 may be from pictures). Use the following work packet.

     • Feed wild birds and tell which birds you fed.

     • Put out a birdhouse and tell which birds use it.

   • Elective 15:GROW SOMETHING
     • Plant and raise a box garden.

     • Plant and raise a flower bed.

     • Grow a plant indoors.

     • Plant and raise vegetables.

   • Elective 19: FISHING
     • Point out five fish.

     • Rig a pole with the right kind of line and hook. Attach a bobber and sinker, if you need them. Then go fishing.

     • Fish with members of your family or a grown-up. Bait your hook and catch a fish.

     • Know the rules of safe fishing.

     • Tell about some of the fishing laws where you live.

     • Show how to use a rod and reel.

The Ipswich River Watershed Stenciling Project

Date: Sunday, May 15th
Time: NOTE the time has been changed to 11:30 AM
Where: North Reading Library Activity Room
What: Denise Conry will be giving a short talk on North Readings Watershed System and the effects pollution has on our town's drinking water source. From there we will be stenciling signs on catch basin's reminding people not to pollute. This is a great opportunity to do something that can help the quality of our own drinking water right in our own neighborhoods.